MovieChat Forums > Vera Drake (2005) Discussion > Something I don't understand (spoilers)

Something I don't understand (spoilers)

posted 16 years ago by AutisticItGirl
10 replies | jump to latest

And it is this. If abortion was illegal at that time in the UK, how come Susan was able to have that abortion at the nursing home? I admit I'm autistic and don't always interpret things correctly, but my understanding is that if the law says that abortion is illegal, then it is illegal for ANYONE to perform one; doctor at a clinic or working class woman from a block of flats. Or, was it only illegal for anyone OTHER than qualified doctors to perform them? Would appreciate some clarity on this.

Inside my heart is breaking, my make-up may be flaking but my smile still stays on......

[–] Altho73 16 years ago

To clarify the issue for you - in the time period portrayed in the movie it was indeed illegal for an abortion to be performed by a doctor or by anyone else.

However in situations where the physical or mental health of the woman in question was deemed to be at risk doctors could perform abortions.

In the case of Susan there was obviously no risk to her physical life and if you remember the doctor at the clinic asked her a series of questions and made notes of the answers. The doctor would then write in his report that in his opinion the circumstances of the pregnancy was having an adverse effect on Susan's mental health which could lead to her having psychiatric problems and in order to prevent this it was necessary to perform an abortion.

I add that Susan's family were rich and famous, the women that Vera Drake dealt with were not and had no access to such facilities.

[–] goeswithness 15 years ago

My mother was a nurse in the 50s (well, beginning in the 50s) and she always made the point that for people with money, there could always be found a doctor who would give them abortion. They might not call it that (people have D&Cs for other health reasons), but all you needed was money and the law could be worked around. It's just the poor women - the very ones who can least afford to have babies - who had the law held against them and the ones who helped them.

[–] tedfthis 16 years ago

What I didn't understand, was why wasn't the lady who was making the money out of the abortions, prosecuted?

[–] Altho73 16 years ago

You mean Lily who was setting up the abortions and taking money for them which Vera Drake knew nothing about????

Maybe she was and it just wasn't shown in the movie??

[–] JaneSchmo 16 years ago

Abortion was illegal but there were exceptions. One of them was the mother's mental health and Susan, like many women of the time who took advantage of loopholes, faked mental illness to get one done legally.

What surprises me is that the nurses at said clinic and at the other hospital were nuns. Surely a Catholic hospital would NEVER do abortions, even in cases of rape or mental harm? (Except MAYBE in case of sure death to the mother, something that Catholicism SOMETIMES makes exception for. To my understanding.)

And why would there even be a Catholic hospital in England? Aren't Catholics a tiny minority?

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[–] macbethp 15 years ago

Good question, but actually nurses in England are referred to as "sisters" as in "ward sisters" and it doesn't have anything to do with religion. I'm not sure about today, but that's certainly how it was in the '50's. (I've read a lot of British mysteries)

[–] Adams5905 15 years ago

These are not Catholic nuns, as one other poster explained (the term 'sister' simply referred to their 'rank' as nurses), but there were plenty of Catholic hospitals and nursing homes in England (and Scotland) right up until the end of the 60's, when the NHS finally took over responsibilty for them, and by definition, the NHS is a non-denominational body. The Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, which was sponsored by the Duke of Wellington (who was a Protestant), gave Catholics equal rights in all aspects, but there had been hospitals (and hospices) run by Catholics, both in orders and lay, for all patients in need, not just members of their own faith.. Remember our last PM was a left-footer (as I am myself), and there were even rumours that the late Princess of Wales was considering converting. We're not as rare as hen's teeth in this country, you know, especially as the bulk of new immigrants coming into the UK from eastern Europe are Catholic. And by the way, Catholics do not support abortion in cases of rape or mental harm, not even in cases where the mother's life is at stake...

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[–] JaneSchmo 15 years ago

No offense but I didn't even know there were ANY Catholics in the UK until I saw the new film version of Brideshead Revisited.

I did have a lot of British history in school and did learn about the Reformation in England and all that...but somehow no one ever told us this. I thought they were all gone by the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth.

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[–] Adams5905 15 years ago

Ok, let's try this in easy stages (and I am not being condescending)...

1. Henry VIII was born, lived, and died a Catholic (albeit his own version of Catholisicm).

2. 'Mary' was Bloody Mary, Eldest daughter (only progeny?) of H VIII and Catherine of Aragon, and therefore, according to Catholic doctrine, his only true heir, after any existing, or future male issue. She was fiercely Catholic, ruled England briefly after her half-brother (Edward VI), and before her more famous half-sister, Elizabeth (I). During her reign, Protestants were persecuted. Burned at the stake, emasculated, and eviscerated alive (not necessarily in this order). As a Catholic, this is a period of English history I should like to gloss over...

3.Eventually Elizabeth takes charge. Ironically, despite Henry's attitude of primogeniture (misogynistic, homophobic, and snobbish), his daughter proves herself to be one of the most beloved of all our despotic monarchs (Good Queen Bess): 'I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm'
This in response to the King Philip II of Spain's demand to the crown of England (and Ireland).
Elizabeth was remarkably tolerant towards Catholics (bear in mind most of her sailors were Anglo-Catholic pirates), but was eventually forced into a less forgiving position by her advisors (Essex).
As a Catholic, I bear no malice, and can only say;

'She was certainly a great Queen and were she only a Catholic she would be our dearly beloved. Just look how well she governs! She is only a woman, only mistress of half an island (remember, no Scotland, yet), and yet she makes herself feared by Spain, by France, by the Empire, by all.... Our children would have ruled the whole world. (Pope Sixtus, 1588).

...And so, Protestantism becomes the accepted and acknowledged faith of England (and, ironically, Ireland), Wales, as an English protectorate, and, eventually, in 1707, Scotland...And from there, the rest of the English-speaking world!

So, I can sort of see where you got lost...But not really...

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

[–] 15 years ago

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